JPH11243470A - Method for controlling network facsimile machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilize a communication management report by sending a list of contents of communication history information to a sending source, when a received electronic mail is a communication management report request mail. SOLUTION: When a communication history table that stores many pieces of communication history information representing communication history is provided, the header information of a received mail is extracted and analyzed, and a command character string that requests a communication management report is arranged, a communication management report that shows the contents of the communication history information in a list is produced and a communication management report mail that arranges the report for text information is sent to a sending source that is extracted from the header information. Because a user is able to appropriately receive the communication management report, he can perform processings (e.g. statistical processing) of the contents or utilize them for other usages.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed through a public network.

When such a network facsimile apparatus is used, image information from a facsimile apparatus connected to a public network can be delivered to a work station apparatus connected to a local area network. It can be greatly expanded, and is very convenient.

[0004] When the connected local area network is connected to the Internet, it is also possible to perform an image information transmitting operation to a terminal device connected to another local area network via the Internet. You can do it.

[0005] By using such a network facsimile apparatus, image information can be exchanged between remote locations via the Internet. Information can be exchanged, and communication costs can be significantly reduced.

[0006]

Now, such a network facsimile apparatus is provided with an extremely large number of communication functions, and performs communication operations of a large number of partner terminals and users. Therefore, it is assumed that the number of pieces of communication history information to be created increases, and therefore, the usage method thereof is also diversified.

However, a communication management report in which communication history information is arranged in a list is only recorded and output using a plotter device of a network facsimile device, and it has been difficult to utilize it sufficiently.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a control method for a network facsimile apparatus that can effectively utilize a communication management report.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a control of a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed through a public network. In the method, a communication history table that stores a large number of communication history information representing a communication history is provided, and the received e-mail is a communication management report request mail in which a command character string requesting a communication management report is arranged. A communication management report is prepared by listing the contents of a large number of communication history information stored in the communication history table, and the communication management report mail in which the communication management report is arranged in the body information is sent to the communication management report. This is sent to the sender of the request mail.

[0010] Further, in a control method of a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network, a communication representing a communication history. A communication history table that stores a large number of history information and a permitted mail address table that stores mail addresses to which a communication management report can be sent are provided. In the received e-mail, a command character string requesting the communication management report is arranged. In the case of a communication management report request mail, a large number of communication histories stored in the communication history table only when the mail address of the transmission source of the communication management report request mail is registered in the above-mentioned permitted mail address table. List the contents of the information Create a communication management report that, the communication management report e-mail disposed in the body information and the communication management report, in which is to be sent to said communication management report request mail sender.

Further, in a control method of a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and an exchanging function of facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network, a communication representing a communication history is provided. A communication history table for storing a large number of history information, and a permission mail address table for storing mail addresses to which the communication management report can be sent are provided. In the case of a communication management report request mail in which editing conditions are arranged, the mail address of the sender of the communication management report request mail is stored in the communication history table only when registered in the above-mentioned permitted mail address table. Has been numerous The content of the communication history information is extracted in accordance with the above-mentioned editing conditions, a communication management report including a list of the extracted results is created, and a communication management report mail in which the communication management report is arranged in the body information is transmitted to the communication management report request. It is designed to be sent to the sender of the mail.

Further, in a method for controlling a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network, a communication representing a communication history. A communication history table that stores a large number of history information and a permitted mail address table that stores mail addresses to which a communication management report can be sent are provided. In the received e-mail, a command character string requesting the communication management report is arranged. In the case of a communication management report request mail, a large number of communication histories stored in the communication history table only when the mail address of the transmission source of the communication management report request mail is registered in the above-mentioned permitted mail address table. From the content of the information that email Creates a communication management report that extracts only the information related to the dress, lists the extraction results, and sends the communication management report mail with the communication management report arranged in the body information to the above communication management report request mail It is intended to be transmitted to the original.

Further, in a method of controlling a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and an exchanging function of facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed through a public network, a communication representing a communication history is provided. A communication history table that stores a large number of history information and a permitted mail address table that stores mail addresses to which a communication management report can be sent are provided. In the received e-mail, a command character string requesting the communication management report is arranged. In the case of a communication management report request mail, editing conditions are placed in the communication management report request mail only when the source mail address of the communication management report request mail is registered in the above-mentioned permitted mail address table. When the above communication A communication management report in which the contents of a large number of communication history information stored in the history table are extracted in accordance with the above-mentioned editing conditions, a communication management report in which a list of the extracted results is displayed, and the communication management report is arranged in the body information While the report mail is transmitted to the source of the communication management report request mail, if no editing condition is set in the communication management report request mail, a large number of communication history information stored in the communication history table is deleted. Extract only the information related to the mail address from the contents, create a communication management report that lists the extraction results, and send the communication management report mail with the communication management report arranged in the body information to the above communication management report request It is designed to be sent to the sender of the mail.

In a method for controlling a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed through a public network, a communication representing a communication history is provided. A communication history table that stores a large number of history information and a permitted mail address table that stores mail addresses to which a communication management report can be sent are provided. In the received e-mail, a command character string requesting the communication management report is arranged. In the case of a communication management report request mail, a large number of communication histories stored in the communication history table only when the mail address of the transmission source of the communication management report request mail is registered in the above-mentioned permitted mail address table. List the contents of the information When a destination is specified in the above-mentioned communication management report request mail, a communication management report mail with the communication management report placed in the body information is sent to the other destinations. On the other hand, when another destination is not specified in the communication management report request mail, the communication management report mail is transmitted to the transmission source of the communication management report request mail.

Further, in a control method of a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and an exchanging function of facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed through a public network, a communication representing a communication history. A communication history table that stores a large number of history information, an allowed email address table that stores email addresses that can request transmission of communication management reports, and a transfer allowed email address table that stores email addresses that can transfer communication management reports. In the case where the received e-mail is a communication management report request mail in which a command character string requesting a communication management report is arranged, the mail address of the transmission source of the communication management report request mail is set in the above-mentioned permitted mail address table. Registered in A communication management report that lists the contents of a large number of communication history information stored in the communication history table is created only when there is another destination specified in the communication management report request mail. When the specified other destination is registered in the above-mentioned transfer permission mail address table, the communication management report mail with the communication management report placed in the body information is sent to other destinations. On the other hand, when another destination is not specified in the communication management report request mail, the communication management report mail is transmitted to the transmission source of the communication management report request mail.

The communication management report transmission history table stores transmission history information of the communication management report mail. When the transmission of the communication management report transmission management report is requested by e-mail, the communication management report transmission history is stored. A communication management report transmission management report including a list of transmission history information stored in a table is created and transmitted to a request source of the communication management report transmission management report.

[0017]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a local area network LAN includes a plurality of workstation devices WS1 to WS1.
WSn, the mail server device SM, and the network facsimile device FX are connected. The local area network LAN is connected to the Internet via a router device RT, and can exchange various data with a host device or the like connected to another local area network or the like.

Here, the mail server device SM collects and sends e-mails (described later) to users using the workstation devices WS1 to WSn connected to the local area network LAN and to the network facsimile device FX. It provides distribution services.

Further, the workstation devices WS1 to WSW
Sn includes application software for exchanging various data via the local area network LAN (e-mail transmission / reception processing, etc.), application software for processing image information included in e-mail received from the network facsimile machine FX, and the like. Are introduced, and are used by specific users. Here, the specific user is
There may be one or more users.

Also, a network facsimile machine FX
Is an e-mail transmission / reception function in a local area network LAN, a local area network LAN
A predetermined information communication function according to a predetermined point-to-point transmission procedure between the workstation devices WS1 to WSn connected to the public network and a public network (PSTN), and using the public network as a transmission path. It has various transmission (communication) functions such as a transmission function for transmitting image information according to a group 3 facsimile transmission procedure. Further, transmission (distribution) of facsimile image information from the network facsimile machine FX to (the user of) the workstation apparatuses WS1 to WSn is performed using electronic mail.

In this embodiment, basically, data exchange between terminals connected to the local area network LAN is based on so-called TCP / IP.
This is performed by applying a combination (a so-called protocol suite) of a transmission protocol up to a transport layer called a transport layer and a communication protocol of a higher layer than that. For example, in the exchange of e-mail data, SMTP (Simple) is used as the upper layer communication protocol.
A communication protocol called Mail Transfer Protocol is applied.

The protocol applied by each terminal to the mail server device SM for confirming the receipt of an e-mail addressed to the user and for requesting transmission is a so-called POP.
(Post Office Protocol) or the like can be applied.

The communication protocols such as TCP / IP, SMTP, and POP, and the data format and data structure of electronic mail are respectively IETF (Intranet).
ternet Engineering Task F
orce), an RFC (Request) issued by an organization that summarizes technical content related to the Internet.
st For Comments) document. For example, TCP is RFC793, IP is RFC
793, SMTP is RFC821, E-mail format is RFC822, RFC1521, RFC1522
(MIME (Multi Purpose Mail
Extension)).

Then, the network facsimile machine F
X transmits the read document image to another group 3 facsimile apparatus via the public network PSTN, or a local area network LAN (further, the Internet)
To the users of the workstation devices WS1 to WSn via the public network PSTN, and the image information received from another group 3 facsimile device via the public network PSTN to the user corresponding to the sub-address specified at that time. Transfer using e-mail, or workstation WS of local area network LAN
It has a transfer service function for transferring the received image information to a group 3 facsimile apparatus of the public network PSTN corresponding to the designated speed dial.

For an electronic mail received at its own terminal, image information arranged in the body information is extracted and recorded and output.

Also, since the facsimile image information is binary data and the electronic mail cannot directly include the binary data, a predetermined conversion method (for example, B
After being converted to readable information (7-bit character code) by applying the ASE64 encoding method, it is included in the body information of the e-mail. Such a format of the body information of the electronic mail is called a MIME format.

FIG. 2 shows a network facsimile apparatus F
3 shows an example of the configuration of X.

In FIG. 1, a system control unit 1 performs various control processes such as a control process of each unit of the network facsimile apparatus and a facsimile transmission control procedure process. The control facsimile apparatus stores a control processing program to be executed, various data necessary for executing the processing program, and the like, and forms a work area of the system control unit 1. The parameter memory 3 is provided in the network facsimile apparatus. The clock circuit 4 is for storing various kinds of unique information, and outputs current time information.

The scanner 5 is for reading a document image at a predetermined resolution, the plotter 6 is for recording and outputting an image at a predetermined resolution, and the operation display unit 7 is a network facsimile apparatus. , And comprises various operation keys and various display devices.

The encoding / decoding section 8 encodes and compresses the image signal and decodes the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal.
This is for storing a large number of image information in a coded and compressed state.

The group 3 facsimile modem 10 is for realizing a group 3 facsimile modem function. The group 3 facsimile modem 10 is a low speed modem function (V.21 modem) for exchanging transmission procedure signals, and mainly exchanges image information. High-speed modem function (V.17 modem,
V. 34 modem, V.34. 29 modem, V.29. 27ter modem etc.).

The network controller 11 is for connecting the facsimile apparatus to a public network (PSTN) and has an automatic transmission / reception function.

The local area network interface circuit 12 is for connecting the Internet facsimile apparatus to the local area network LAN.
3 is a communication control process (e-mail transmission / reception process or point-to-point communication process) of various predetermined protocol suites for exchanging various data with other data terminal devices via the local area network LAN. Etc.).

The system control unit 1, system memory 2, parameter memory 3, clock circuit 4, scanner 5, plotter 6, operation display unit 7, encoding / decoding unit 8, image storage device 9, group 3 facsimile modem The network controller 10, the network controller 11, and the local area network transmission controller 13 are connected to an internal bus 14. Data exchange between these elements is mainly performed via the internal bus 14. I have.

Data exchange between the network controller 11 and the group 3 facsimile modem 10 is directly performed.

In the network facsimile machine FX, every time a transmission / reception operation is performed, communication history information representing the history of the transmission / reception operation is created, and the created communication history information is stored in the communication history table. FIG. 3 shows an example of this communication history information.

The communication history information includes a communication date and time, a destination name of a destination, a user address indicating a mail address of a target user on the local area network LAN side, a communication mode (G3 or Mail; G3: Personal communication / confidential / relay / polling / storage transmission / reception / time specification transmission / memory transfer / ECM / linear density (resolution) /
Reduction / remote relay / information service / extension information), communication time indicating the time required for communication, number of images transmitted and received, communication result, communication fee, user's department name specified at transmission , And a file number assigned to the transmitted / received image information file.

The communication history information is referred to when a communication management report for displaying the communication history is created.
The communication management report displays a list of contents of the communication history information. Further, the communication management report is usually recorded and output by a user's command operation or when the communication history information stored in the communication history table exceeds a certain number.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the communication management report.

In this embodiment, for example, by transmitting a communication management report request mail as shown in FIG. 5 to the network facsimile machine FX, the users of the workstations WS1 to WSn can transmit the communication management report. You can receive. This communication management report request mail is composed of the header information “Subject
In the "t:" field, enter "GIVE ME REPOR".
A character string indicating a request for a communication management report, such as "T", is arranged. In this case, the text information is treated as dummy data (invalid data) in the network facsimile machine FX.

Therefore, in this case, the user who wants to receive the communication management report transmits the communication management report request mail as described above to the network facsimile machine FX.

On the other hand, the network facsimile machine FX
When the communication management report request mail is received, the communication management report as described above is created based on the communication history information stored in the communication history table, and the contents of the communication management report are arranged in the body information. An e-mail (hereinafter, referred to as a “communication management report mail”) is created, and the communication management report mail is sent to the transmission source of the communication management report request mail (that is, the mail address arranged in the “From:” field). Send to.

As described above, since the user can appropriately receive the communication management report, the user can process the content (for example, statistical processing) or use the content for another purpose. , Very convenient.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail in this case.

First, an inquiry is made to the mail server device SM as to whether or not an incoming e-mail addressed to the own terminal is held (process 101).
When the result of Step 02 is YES, one incoming e-mail is acquired (Step 103), and "Fr" of the header information is obtained.
om: ”field, the mail address of the source user is extracted (step 104), and“ Subject ”in the header information is extracted.
The contents of the "t:" field are analyzed (process 105).

Then, it is checked whether a character string representing a request for a communication management report "GIVE ME REPORT" is arranged in the "Subject:" field (decision 106), and the result of decision 106 is NO. In some cases, normal network facsimile processing for processing the received e-mail is executed (processing 107). Next, it is checked whether or not the processing for all the incoming e-mails has been completed (decision 108).
If the result of step 8 is NO, the process returns to step 103 and the same processing is executed for the next incoming electronic mail. When the result of determination 108 is YES, this operation ends.

When the result of the determination 106 is YES, the communication management report as described above is created based on the communication history information stored in the communication history table (step 109), and the communication management report is created. In addition to the arrangement in the body information, the processing 104
A communication management report mail in which the extracted mail addresses are arranged is created (step 110), and the communication management report mail is transmitted (step 111).

When the result of the determination 108 is NO, the process returns to the step 103, and the same processing is executed for the next incoming electronic mail. When the result of determination 108 is YES, this operation ends.

If the result of determination 102 is NO, this operation is immediately terminated.

In the above-described embodiment, when the communication management report request mail is received, the network facsimile machine FX automatically unconditionally sends the communication management report mail to the source of the communication management report request mail. Since the communication management report request mail is sent back, even if the transmission source of the communication management report request mail is not the user of the network system shown in FIG. 1, for example, the communication management report mail is undesirably transmitted.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, an authorized mail address table in which mail addresses of users who can receive the communication management report mail are registered is provided to limit the users who can receive the communication management report mail. Troubles can be eliminated.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail in this case.

First, an inquiry is made to the mail server device SM as to whether or not an incoming e-mail addressed to the own terminal is held (process 201).
When the result of step 02 is YES, one incoming e-mail is acquired (step 203) and the header information "Fr
The mail address of the sender user is extracted from the "om:" field (process 204), and it is checked whether the mail address is registered in the permitted mail address table (determination 205).

When the result of the judgment 205 is YES, the contents of the "Subject:" field of the header information are analyzed (step 206), and a communication management report "GIVE ME REPORT" is requested in the "Subject:" field. It is checked whether or not a character string representing the fact is arranged (decision 207).

When the result of determination 207 is NO,
A normal network facsimile process for processing the received electronic mail is executed (process 208). Next, it is checked whether or not the processing has been completed for all the incoming e-mails (decision 209). . When the result of determination 209 is YES, this operation ends.

When the result of determination 207 is YES, the communication management report as described above is created based on the communication history information stored in the communication history table (process 210), and the communication management report is created. In addition to the arrangement in the body information, the processing 204
A communication management report mail in which the mail addresses extracted in (2) are arranged is created (process 211), and the communication management report mail is transmitted (process 212).

When the result of the determination 209 is NO, the process returns to the process 203, and the same process is executed for the next incoming electronic mail. When the result of determination 209 is YES, this operation ends.

When the result of the determination 205 is NO, the communication management table request mail received at that time is discarded (process 213), and this operation ends. Further, when the result of the determination 202 is NO, this operation is immediately terminated.

Now, when requesting a communication management report,
There is a request to appropriately edit the contents to be included in the communication management report. For example, there is a request to know the communication history in a certain period, sort the contents of the communication management report for each user, or want to know only the communication history of a specific user.

In this case, as shown in parentheses in FIG. 5, the “Subject:” field contains “GI
Following a character string indicating that a communication management report “VE ME REPORT” is requested, a character string indicating editing conditions, for example, “user-
a @ aaa. co. jp "(user-a@aaa.c
o. This means that only the communication history relating to the user of the mail address jp is extracted. ), "12/10
-12/17 "(indicating that only the communication history during the period from December 10 to December 17 is extracted).
And so on.

Upon receiving the communication management report request mail to which the editing conditions are added, the network facsimile machine FX extracts a message that matches the designated condition from the communication history information stored in the communication history table. Further, when the sorting condition is specified (for example, date order, date reverse order, etc.), sorting is performed according to the condition and a communication management report is created.

Then, the created communication management report is set in the body information, and a communication management report mail in which the mail address of the transmission source of the communication management report request mail is set in the “To:” field is created. Send to SM.

As a result, the source user of the communication management report request mail can receive the communication management report under the conditions specified by him / her, which is very convenient for communication management.

In addition, when the editing conditions are not specified, a communication management report for only the communication relating to the user is received, which is very convenient for managing the communication of the user.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail in this case.

First, an inquiry is made to the mail server device SM as to whether or not an incoming e-mail addressed to the own terminal is held (process 301).
When the result of Step 02 is YES, one incoming e-mail is acquired (Step 303), and "Fr" of the header information is obtained.
The mail address of the sender user is extracted from the "om:" field (process 304), and it is checked whether or not the mail address is registered in the permitted mail address table (determination 305).

When the result of the determination 305 is YES, the contents of the “Subject:” field of the header information are analyzed (process 306), and a communication management report “GIVE ME REPORT” is requested in the “Subject:” field. It is checked whether or not a character string representing the fact is arranged (decision 307).

If the result of decision 307 is NO,
A normal network facsimile process for processing the received e-mail is executed (process 308). Next, it is checked whether or not the processing for all the incoming e-mails has been completed (decision 309). . When the result of determination 309 is YES, this operation ends.

When the result of the judgment 307 is YES, it is further checked whether or not some editing processing condition is added (decision 310). When the result of the determination 310 is YES, the specified editing process is applied to the communication history information stored in the communication history table, and a communication management report as described above is created based on the contents after the application. (Step 311), the communication management report is arranged in the body information, and "T
o: a communication management report mail in which the mail address extracted in step 304 is arranged in the field (process 3).
12) Then, the communication management report mail is transmitted (process 313), and the flow shifts to decision 309.

When the result of determination 309 is NO, the process returns to step 303, and the same processing is executed for the next incoming electronic mail. When the result of determination 309 is YES, this operation ends.

When the result of determination 310 is NO, only the mail address extracted in step 304 is extracted from the communication history information stored in the communication history table, and based on the extracted contents, The communication management report as described above is created (process 314), and the process proceeds to process 312 to transmit a communication management report mail.

If the result of determination 305 is NO, the communication management table request mail received at that time is discarded (process 315), and this operation ends. When the result of the determination 302 is NO, this operation is immediately terminated.

In some cases, a user who has requested a communication management report may want to send the communication management report to another user.

In order to deal with such a request, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
In the "c:" field, a communication management report request mail in which the mail address of the transfer destination user is arranged is set.

As described above, when the communication management report request mail in which the mail address is arranged in the “Bcc:” field is received, the network facsimile machine FX
The communication management report mail described above is created based on the communication history information stored in the communication history table, and the communication management report mail is arranged in the “Bcc:” field of the communication management report request mail. Send to email address.

As a result, a communication management report can be collected by a specific user, which is advantageous when the communication management is unified.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail in this case.

First, an inquiry is made to the mail server device SM as to whether or not an incoming e-mail addressed to the terminal is held (process 401).
When the result of Step 02 is YES, one incoming e-mail is acquired (Step 403), and "Fr" of the header information is obtained.
The mail address of the sender user is extracted from the "om:" field (process 404), and it is checked whether the mail address is registered in the permitted mail address table (determination 405).

If the result of determination 405 is YES, the contents of the “Subject:” field of the header information are analyzed (process 406), and a communication management report “GIVE ME REPORT” is requested for the “Subject:” field. It is checked whether or not a character string representing that is arranged (decision 407).

If the result of decision 407 is NO,
A normal network facsimile process for processing the received e-mail is executed (process 408). Next, it is checked whether or not the processing has been completed for all the incoming e-mails (step 409). . When the result of determination 409 is YES, this operation ends.

When the result of determination 407 is YES, the communication management report as described above is created based on the communication history information stored in the communication history table (process 410), and the communication management report is created. In addition to the arrangement in the body information, the processing 404 is set in the “To:” field.
Then, a communication management report mail in which the mail address extracted in (1) is arranged is created (process 411).

Then, it is checked whether or not the received communication management report request mail includes the “Bcc:” field (decision 412). If the result of decision 412 is YES, the value of the “To:” field is changed to The contents are replaced with the contents of the "Bcc:" field of the received communication management report request mail (process 413). The result of decision 412 is N
When it becomes O, the value of the “To:” field is not changed.

Next, the communication management report mail is transmitted (step 414), and the flow shifts to decision 409. If the result of the determination 409 is NO, the process 40
Returning to step 3, the same processing is executed for the next incoming electronic mail. When the result of determination 409 is YES, this operation ends.

If the result of determination 405 is NO, the communication management table request mail received at that time is discarded (process 413), and this operation ends. Further, when the result of the determination 402 is NO, this operation is immediately terminated.

In the above-described embodiment, if the received communication management report request mail includes the “Bcc:” field, the “Bcc:”
Although the communication management report mail is transmitted (forwarded) to the mail address having the value of the field, the mail addresses permitted to be transferred may be restricted.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 12, an item of “transfer permission” is provided in the permission mail address table, and the presence or absence of the transfer permission is registered for each mail address, and the received communication management report request mail is registered. "B
If the “cc:” field is included, the “B:
The communication management report mail is transferred only when the mail address of the value of the "cc:" field is registered in the permitted mail address table and "Yes" is registered in the transfer permission item.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail in this case.

First, an inquiry is made to the mail server apparatus SM as to whether or not an incoming e-mail addressed to the terminal is held (process 501).
If the result of step 02 is YES, one incoming e-mail is acquired (step 503), and the header information "Fr"
The mail address of the sender user is extracted from the "om:" field (process 504), and it is checked whether the mail address is registered in the permitted mail address table (determination 505).

When the result of the judgment 505 is YES, the contents of the "Subject:" field of the header information are analyzed (process 506), and a communication management report "GIVE ME REPORT" is requested for the "Subject:" field. It is checked whether or not a character string representing that is arranged (decision 507).

When the result of decision 507 is NO,
A normal network facsimile process for processing the received e-mail is executed (process 508). Next, it is checked whether or not the processing has been completed for all the incoming e-mails (step 509). . When the result of determination 509 is YES, this operation ends.

If the result of determination 507 is YES, the communication management report as described above is created based on the communication history information stored in the communication history table (process 510), and the communication management report is created. Placed in the body information and processed 504 in the “To:” field
A communication management report mail in which the mail address extracted in (1) is arranged is created (process 511).

Then, it is checked whether the received communication management report request mail includes the "Bcc:" field (decision 512), and if the result of decision 512 is YES, the value of the "Bcc:" The e-mail address is registered in the permitted e-mail address table,
In addition, it is determined whether the value of the item “transfer permission” is “present” (determination 513). The result of decision 513 is Y
When it becomes ES, the value of the “To:” field is replaced with the content of the “Bcc:” field of the received communication management report request mail (processing 514). Also, judgment 5
If the result of step 12 is NO, the value of the "To:" field is not changed.

Next, the communication management report mail is transmitted (step 515), and the flow shifts to decision 509. If the result of the determination 509 is NO, the process 50
Returning to step 3, the same processing is executed for the next incoming electronic mail. When the result of determination 509 is YES, this operation ends.

If the result of determination 513 is NO, the created communication management report mail is discarded (processing 516), and the flow shifts to determination 509 to execute the subsequent processing.

If the result of determination 505 is NO, the communication management table request mail received at that time is discarded (processing 517), and this operation ends. When the result of determination 502 is NO, this operation is immediately terminated.

When the communication management report is transmitted or transferred as in each of the above-described embodiments, storing the transmission or transfer history is convenient for performing the communication management report transmission management.

For example, transmission management of a communication management report can be performed by creating a communication management report output log as shown in FIG. 14 and recording and outputting it at a user's request or at a predetermined timing. The network facsimile machine FX creates communication management report transmission history information (not shown) and stores it in the communication management report transmission management table every time the communication management report mail is transmitted.

In this case, the access right of the user is set and registered in the permitted user address table as shown in FIG. The access authority is provided to limit the content of the editing process that can be performed by the user.
The content represented by the "user" can receive the communication management report, but the editing process cannot be applied.The content represented by the "administrator" can receive the communication management report, and The editing process can be applied. “Full access” has the same authority as “administrator”.

FIG. 16 shows an example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX at the time of receiving an electronic mail in this case.

First, an inquiry is made to the mail server device SM as to whether or not an incoming e-mail addressed to the own terminal is held (process 601).
When the result of Step 02 is YES, one incoming e-mail is acquired (Step 603), and "Fr" of the header information is obtained.
The mail address of the sender user is extracted from the "om:" field (process 604), and it is checked whether or not the mail address is registered in the permitted mail address table (determination 605).

When the result of the determination 605 is YES, the contents of the “Subject:” field of the header information are analyzed (process 606), and a communication management report “GIVE ME REPORT” is requested in the “Subject:” field. It is checked whether or not a character string representing this is arranged (decision 607).

If the result of decision 607 is NO,
A normal network facsimile process for processing the received e-mail is executed (process 608). Next, it is checked whether or not the processing has been completed for all the incoming e-mails (step 609). . When the result of determination 609 is YES, this operation ends.

If the result of determination 607 is YES, the communication management report as described above is created based on the communication history information stored in the communication history table (process 610), and the communication management report is created. Placed in the body information and processed 604 in the “To:” field
Then, a communication management report mail in which the mail address extracted in (1) is arranged is created (process 611).

Then, it is checked whether or not the received communication management report request mail includes the “Bcc:” field (decision 612). If the result of decision 612 is YES, the value of the “Bcc:” field is checked. The e-mail address is registered in the permitted e-mail address table,
In addition, it is determined whether the value of the item “transfer permission” is “present” (determination 613). If the result of decision 613 is Y
When it becomes ES, the value of the “To:” field is replaced with the content of the “Bcc:” field of the received communication management report request mail (processing 614). Also, judgment 6
If the result of step 12 is NO, the value of the "To:" field is not changed.

Next, the communication management report mail is transmitted (step 615), and regarding the transmission operation of the communication management report mail at that time, the transmission date and time, the destination mail address, the output contents (editing processing contents), and The communication management report transmission history information including the user's access authority (to be described later) is created and stored (process 616), and the process proceeds to decision 609. Then, when the result of the determination 609 is NO, the process returns to the process 603, and the same process is executed for the next incoming electronic mail. When the result of determination 609 is YES, this operation ends.

If the result of the judgment 613 is NO, the created communication management report mail is discarded (step 617), and the flow shifts to the judgment 609 to execute the subsequent processing.

When the result of determination 605 is NO, the communication management table request mail received at that time is discarded (process 618), and this operation ends. When the result of the determination 602 is NO, this operation is immediately terminated.

FIG. 17 shows another example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX at the time of receiving an electronic mail according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

First, an inquiry is made to the mail server device SM as to whether or not an incoming e-mail addressed to the own terminal is held (process 701).
When the result of Step 02 is YES, one incoming e-mail is acquired (Step 703), and "Fr" of the header information is obtained.
The mail address of the sender user is extracted from the "om:" field (process 704), and it is checked whether or not the mail address is registered in the permitted mail address table (determination 705).

When the result of determination 705 is YES, the contents of the “Subject:” field of the header information are analyzed (processing 706), and a request for a communication management report “GIVE ME REPORT” is requested for the “Subject:” field. It is checked whether or not a character string representing the fact is arranged (decision 707).

When the result of decision 707 is NO,
A normal network facsimile process for processing the received e-mail is executed (process 708). Next, it is checked whether or not the processing for all the incoming e-mails has been completed (step 709). . When the result of determination 709 is YES, this operation ends.

If the result of the judgment 707 is YES, it is further checked whether or not some editing processing condition is added (judgment 710). When the result of determination 710 is YES, it is checked whether the “access right” of the mail address of the transmission source user is set to “administrator” or “full access” having the execution right of the editing process (determination) 711).

When the result of the determination 711 is YES, the specified editing process is applied to the communication history information stored in the communication history table, and the communication management as described above is performed based on the contents after the application. A report is created (process 712), and the communication management report is arranged in the body information, and the process 704 is added to the “To:” field.
Then, a communication management report mail in which the mail addresses extracted in (1) are arranged is created (step 713), and the communication management report mail is transmitted (step 714).

When the result of determination 709 is NO, the process returns to step 703, and the same processing is executed for the next incoming electronic mail. When the result of determination 709 is YES, this operation ends.

If the result of the determination 711 is NO, the communication management report mail is not created and the determination 70
9 and execute the subsequent processing.

If the result of determination 710 is NO, only the mail address extracted in step 704 is extracted from the communication history information stored in the communication history table, and based on the extracted contents, The communication management report as described above is created (processing 715), and the process proceeds to processing 713 to transmit a communication management report mail.

When the result of determination 705 is NO, the communication management table request mail received at that time is discarded (process 716), and this operation ends. When the result of determination 702 is NO, this operation is immediately terminated.

As described above, the execution of the editing process when creating the communication management report is restricted in accordance with the access authority set to the requesting user. You can edit the communication management report.

[0121]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the user can appropriately receive the communication management report, the content can be processed (for example, statistical processing) or used for other purposes, which is very convenient. Get.

Further, since a permission mail address table in which the mail addresses of the users who can receive the communication management report mail are registered and the users who can receive the communication management report mail are restricted, the source of the communication management report request mail is limited. Even in an inappropriate case, it is possible to prevent a problem that a communication management report mail is transmitted.

Further, since the user who has transmitted the communication management report request mail can receive the communication management report under the conditions specified by him / her, there is also obtained an effect that the user is very convenient in terms of communication management.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a network system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a network facsimile machine FX.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of communication history information.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a communication management report.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a communication management report request mail.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an allowed mail address table.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing still another example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the communication management report request mail.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing still another example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing another example of the permitted mail address table.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing still another example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a communication management report output log.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing still another example of the permitted mail address table.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing still another example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing still another example of the processing of the network facsimile machine FX when receiving an electronic mail.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method of controlling a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and a function of exchanging facsimile data according to a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network, wherein communication representing a communication history is performed. A communication history table that stores a large number of history information is provided. If the received e-mail is a communication management report request mail in which a command character string requesting a communication management report is arranged, the communication mail is stored in the communication history table. Create a communication management report that lists the contents of a large number of communication history information that has been sent, and send the communication management report mail with the communication management report arranged in the body information to the sender of the above communication management report request mail. Control of network facsimile equipment characterized by transmission Method. 2. A method for controlling a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network, wherein communication representing a communication history is performed. A communication history table that stores a large number of history information and a permission mail address table that stores mail addresses to which communication management reports can be sent are provided. The received e-mail contains a command string that requests the communication management report. In the case of a communication management report request mail, a large number of communication histories stored in the communication history table only when the mail address of the transmission source of the communication management report request mail is registered in the permitted mail address table. List contents of information A method for controlling a network facsimile apparatus, wherein a communication management report is created, and a communication management report mail in which the communication management report is arranged in body information is transmitted to a source of the communication management report request mail. 3. A method of controlling a network facsimile apparatus having a function of exchanging data on a local area network and a function of exchanging facsimile data by a facsimile transmission procedure performed via a public network, wherein communication representing a communication history is performed. It has a communication history table that stores a large number of history information, and an allowed mail address table that stores mail addresses to which communication management reports can be sent. In the case of a communication management report request mail in which editing conditions are arranged, the mail address of the sender of the communication management report request mail is stored in the communication history table only when registered in the above-mentioned permitted mail address table. Numerous communications being The content of the history information is extracted in accordance with the above-mentioned editing conditions, a communication management report is generated by listing the extracted results, and the communication management report mail in which the communication management report is arranged in the body information is sent to the communication management report request mail. A method for controlling a network facsimile apparatus, wherein the method is for transmitting to a transmission source.